My A race this season is Troika, so the purpose for doing the half marathon was to see how my run time had improved (or not) since Mercer Island where my time was 1:54.:54.
My training and race plan usually center around doing exactly what Jill tells me to do (ok..92% of what she tells me to do….I’ll point out obvious omissions as we go along). So the night before I ate my dinner (breakfast for dinner, just like Jill) at about 5pm, which seemed incredibly early.
The next morning I woke up and enjoyed a bowl of Captain Crunch cereal with milk, followed later by coffee and a donut (just like Jill). Also drank a diet coke and about 17 ounces of water. (Didn’t eat the eggs that Jill had suggested. Would wait and see if it was a fatal error, but since it was just a half marathon I wasn’t too worried). Right before race started I had about 8 ounces of Gatorade.
It was a bit chilly for me when we arrived in Bellevue, but looked like it would be a perfect morning for the run. My friend was doing the 5 k which started at 6:45, so we warmed up together for a while. After that race started I jogged a bit more, went to the bathroom again, put my sweatshirt in storage and set off for the race start. Then I had to wait because for some reason they were starting the race about 10 minutes later than they had printed on all of their stinkin’ literature. I could have gone to the bathroom again with that type of time!
The race started and I aimed to keep my pace exactly where Jill told me, - first three miles 10 sec slower than my last half marathon average pace-but each mile I was about 10 seconds quicker. I was supposed to walk (per Jill) but I decided to just do a very slow jog and try to keep my pace slower for the next mile. But I apparently kept picking it up a bit because each mile I finished at the same pace.
The next 6 miles I just tried to keep my heart rate between 154 and 156. I felt like I was moving all right and each mile moved pretty quickly.
At each aid station I had a bit of the Gleukos and a bit of the water. (OK…”never try something new on the race day” which I would guess try the stuff more than a sip the day before at packet pickup). Other than I have a preference for really sweet sports drinks like Gatorade, this one wasn’t too bad.
Around 45 minutes I started wondering when they would be passing out Gels. Here’s a lesson learned: Don’t wait until you are LOOKING FOR A GEL to wonder at what point they would be passing them out. And don’t rely on someone at packet picket who says “oh yea, they’ll have gels on the course”. My plan was to have one at 45 minutes and then another every 20 minutes.(once again, I take what ever is on the course whether I’ve tried it before or not, one of these days I’ll be sorry). Finally at about 55 minutes they were passing them out. I took two not expecting them to be passing them out again, which was a good thing because they weren’t.
Around mile 9 I did a quick calculation and realized I would have no problem beating my prior times and maybe even getting under 1:48 or 1:49. I was a little surprised because It didn’t feel too bad. I made a point of running fast down the hills and trying to pass people then (like Jill told me to). I was pretty excited about the prospect of breaking 1:50. At 10 miles I decided I could keep my heart rate up over 163 -165 for the next 3 miles and it wouldn’t kill me. Anytime I felt like slowing down I’d check my heart rate and if it was around 163 I’d just remind myself that I may not like the way I was feeling, but I could tolerate it for 24 more minutes.
The best part came around mile 12 when I ran right past my x-husband. Since I’m one of his less favorite people, I expected his distaste for me to fuel his competitive spirit, and expected that I’d be passed by him shortly. But I just kept pushing and that was the last I saw of him. (I think once a year is enough).
So my final time was 1:46:56. Missed getting in the Top 10 for my age group by 7 stinken’ seconds. But I was very pleased with my time. I ran into an old friend that is a very good runner who commented that it was a tough course, lots of hills. I have to admit-after all the hills Jill has had me running-I didn’t even notice.
